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University of Iowa

The Iowa Athletics Department has proposed major and extensive renovations to athletics facilities in a number of various projects it initially estimates will cost $130 million.

The proposal includes plans to renovate the north stands at Kinnick Stadium, add a West Campus residence hall for student-athletes, and add improvements to Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Banks Field, and Finkbine as well as other athletics settings across the river.

IOWA CITY — The University of Iowa athletics department plans to spend as much as $45 million to renovate the north stands in Kinnick Stadium, the school revealed in a proposal Tuesday to the Board of Regents.

The project would renovate the north stands and the related concourse area of Kinnick. The 30-year-old north stands have remained unchanged since the original 1980s construction. In the document, Iowa deemed the north stands as “functionally obsolete by modern-day standards.”

It’s not every day that a town like Solon has thousands of bike riders passing slowly through their town, checking out the ambience and its quant charm, but that’s what will happen on Friday, when Solon is a pass-through town for this year’s RAGBRAI bicycle ride.

To maximize the impact of this rare opportunity, the town is working with five students from the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center. The students have interned through the summer with the city and its RAGBRAI organizing committee to help businesses get noticed by riders as they pass through on July 24.

With just a month before students move into the new facility, Petersen Hall is teeming with activity.

Community members joined with university representativeson Tuesday afternoon to officially open Mary Louise Petersen Hall, the University of Iowa’s first new dormitory since 1968, with a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Almost a month after the publication of her popular first novel and two weeks of signings, tours, and talks, author Naomi Jackson came home to Iowa City on Monday night to talk about her writing and the success of the Star Side of Bird Hill.

Two years after graduating from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Jackson said she did not expect to have such success with the novel.

Rudolph Schulz, known mostly as Rudy, has a lot of legacies. The one you get depends on whom you ask.

Those in the psychology field might note his long list of accomplishments, both as a researcher and as an administrator. His family knew him as a scientist with incredible strength, compassion, and integrity. And if you could ask Rudy, he would naturally talk about psychology.

The University of Iowa’s incoming freshman class is estimated to be the school’s largest yet, and officials say to expect growing pains in the coming years when it comes to housing.

Although official numbers won’t be in for a few months, Brent Gage, the UI associate vice president for enrollment management, said officials are working on estimating exactly how many incoming freshmen the school will have.

With the recent conclusion of the 2015 legislative session, the University of Iowa is moving forward with a salary program for 2015-16.

“I would like to thank the Iowa General Assembly for their hard work and financial support of the University of Iowa in these challenging financial times. We are extremely pleased this will allow the Board of Regents to maintain the tuition freeze for resident undergraduate students this fall,” says President Sally Mason.

The General Education Fund of the university is made up of state appropriations, tuition, and indirect cost recoveries received from the federal government, which support research. Pending the governor’s signature, the budget approved by the General Assembly provides $2.9 million in one-time funding for the University of Iowa and directs the university to use the appropriation for non-recurring projects.

“Due to the resident undergraduate tuition freeze, modest tuition increase for non-resident and graduate students, and reduction in indirect cost recoveries, we have adopted a salary program based on performance that recognizes our outstanding faculty and staff while being mindful of our resources and financial obligations,” says Rod Lehnertz, interim senior vice president for finance and operations.

The overall average salary increases for faculty and staff will be between 1 percent and 3 percent. These increases will need to be covered through reallocation within the individual colleges or administrative units.

“This salary program reflects our current challenges while positioning us to take advantage of emerging opportunities,” says P. Barry Butler, executive vice president and provost. “I am continually humbled by the quality of our faculty and staff—their dedication to our students, groundbreaking research, and service to the state. Because of these individuals, the University of Iowa is poised to make great strides in the coming years.”